Letting Go
by caromal
Summary: ZV TWO SHOT. A wonderful love story was about to come to a tragic end, and there was nothing anyone could do.


**Hi guys. This is going to be a twoshot. This story was derived from a horrible nightmare I had a couple nights ago. I felt like I had to write it.**

"Zac, you've got to get up."

Zac gripped his hair tighter between his curled fists as he heard his father's soft words. He shook his head, a few more tears slipping down his cheeks. He couldn't find the strength in his legs to move a single inch. He could only wonder how he ended up in the situation he was in. What turn of events led to this devastating moment?

**Four Days Earlier  
**  
Zac knew it was stupid. He ran a hand through his hair as heard the muffled slam of Vanessa's car door, followed by the revved up engine that seemed as angry as she was when she left. He walked back over to the couch where she had previously been lying, and felt it. It was still warm.

"God, Zac." he spoke to himself as he sat down on her spot. It was one of the most ridiculous arguments him and Vanessa had gotten in over their 5 year span of being together. He shook his head at himself as he thought back to what had just happened.

_*Flashback*_

_"__Van?" Zac walked into his Los Angeles loft, knowing his girlfriend was in there somewhere. Her car was parked in his driveway._

_"Yeah I'm in here!"_

_Zac followed the warm aroma of freshly baked cookies all the way to his kitchen, where he found Vanessa bent over, taking out a pan from the oven. He enjoyed the view of her behind for a moment._

_"Stop staring, Efron," Vanessa chastised, her back still turned to him as she closed the oven._

_"Sorry, it's a hell of a view." He winked as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her sweetly before leaning his forehead against hers. "I hope the cookies taste as great as they smell."_

_Smiling cheekily, Vanessa nodded, causing their foreheads to rub together. "They do."_

_"I missed you today." Zac said casually, kissing her again. Vanessa smirked when they pulled apart._

_"__I saw you this morning, goofball."_

_Zac smiled and shrugged his shoulders knowingly. "So what? Am I not allowed to miss my beautiful," he brushed his lips across her nose, "sexy," he kissed her cheek, "girlfriend who bakes me cookies when I'm gone?"_

_Vanessa grinned. "Yes, I allow you." she winked as Zac rolled his eyes. They kissed one more time before detaching themselves from each other. Zac walked over to grab a cookie, but Vanessa slapped his hand before he could pick one up. "Not yet! They're still hot!"_

_Zac chuckled. "Alright, alright. So how was your meeting? I needed your fashion expertise when I went to pick up my tux."_

_Vanessa smiled, moving to the sink so she could start washing the bowls she used to make the cookies. "It went good. There may be a new movie I might be in," she bit her lip as she said the last sentence as coyly as possible._

_"Seriously?" Zac walked over to Vanessa and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so proud of you, baby." He kissed the back of her head and squeezed her shoulders._

_"__Thanks," Vanessa blushed, turning to face him. "We don't have all the details yet, but apparently it's a Zack Snyder movie."_

_Zac's eyes widened at the sound of his hero's name. "Oh my God! Alright, you're going to have to introduce me to him." Zac said as Vanessa turned back and continued with the dishes. "That means it must be some kind of action movie, right?"_

_"Yeah, I guess so. I get the script in a few days so we can read it together then." She closed his dishwasher and faced him. "Now, I've got to get home so I can get ready for the event tonight."_

_Zac sighed. "Do you have to?" He snaked his arms around her waist. "The event is in 4 hours. Hang around here for a bit."_

_Vanessa chewed her bottom lip, staring into his blue eyes. "Ugh. I can never say no to those eyes. I need to get you contacts or something."_

_"Oh you love my eyes."_

_"__Yes, I do indeed." She smiled as she perked up on her tip toes so their lips were closer together. "Almost as much as I love you."_

_Zac shuddered at the warmth of her breath on his lips. "I love you too, my dear. And you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Excluding mine of course." He winked and Vanessa smacked him playfully. He kissed her quickly before letting her go. "I'm going to go put my tux upstairs, and when I come back, you better not have left."_

_Vanessa put her hands up. "Consider me held captive."_

_Zac smiled and nodded, grabbing his tux and bringing it up the stairs. He placed it very carefully on his bed, a skill that had been acquired from dating Vanessa. He used to just throw his clothes anywhere, but Vanessa had yelled at him enough for making his clothes wrinkled that he never did it again. He made his way back downstairs where he found Vanessa lying on his couch, flipping through channels._

_"__Anything good on?" He asked as she lifted her head so he could sit underneath it. _

_"__Um, well. No." Vanessa sighed, flipping through the channels lazily._

_Zac's looked around his living room as he waited for her to pick a station. His eyes flickered to her feet, which still had her shoes on. He couldn't help but cringe. He had made an effort to keep his pure white couches as clean as a 22 year old male could. Nothing had been spilled yet, and no dirt stains had gotten on them. But Vanessa was wearing shoes. On his perfect white couch. Nothing good could come of that._

_"Hey Ness-"_

_"Yeah, I'm trying to find something good, Zac. Be patient."_

_"No, um, can you take off your shoes?" He asked politely. Vanessa lifted her head up._

_"My feet are cold though. And they're not dirty. I know how neurotic you are about keeping your couches clean." She smiled as she turned her attention back to the TV. Zac grimaced._

_"__Well, just in case they aren't clean, can you take them off? I'll get you a pair of socks so your feet won't be cold."_

_"When's the last time you did laundry?" she asked. Zac crinkled an eyebrow._

_"What does that have to do with-"_

_"Just answer the question Zac." Her voice had a pint of annoyance in it._

_Zac took a moment to think back. He didn't do laundry last week, he knew that for sure. Or the week before. Or the week before that…_

_"__Uh, a long time ago?" _

_Vanessa bit back a chuckle. "That means you have no clean socks. I'm not wearing dirty socks, sorry." _

_Zac exhaled loudly. "So you'll have sex with me but won't wear my socks?"_

_Vanessa flicked the TV off so she could turn her full attention to him. "As stupid as it sounds, yes."_

_"__Yeah, it __**does**__ sound stupid." He regretted his words and tone the second they came out of his mouth. Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him and pushed herself off the couch.__****_

_ "Fine, if I'm so__** stupid**__, you can go to your __**stupid**__ event alone tonight."_

_Zac sighed. "Ness, you know I didn't mean it like that."_

_Vanessa put a hand on her hip. "Oh yeah, how did you mean it?"_

_Zac ran his hands over his face frustratedly. "Ah, I don't know."_

_Vanessa swallowed back the rising lump in her throat. "Well when you __**do**__ know, let me know."_

_Zac got up from the couch and reached his arm out to grab her to prevent her from leaving, but she was already gone, fuming._

_*End of Flashback*  
_  
Zac grabbed his phone from his pocket and searched for Vanessa's number, sending her a text.

**Hey, I'm really sorry for what happened. Hope you'll still come with me to the event tonight. They're no fun without you. If not, I hope you know I love you. I'll drop by your house later.**

He closed his phone and walked to the kitchen, taking a bite out of one of her cookies.

"Oh boy." Zac closed his eyes and savoured the taste. They were perfect. Moist but crunchy, with just the right amount of sweetness. He grabbed another one and headed up to his bedroom. He had about three hours of boredom stretched out in front of him before he would begin to get ready for the event. He decided to watch his ceiling fan spin around.

About 267 spins later, his phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket and looked at the number, expecting it to be Vanessa. But to his surprise, it was unknown. He hesitantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Zac Efron?" The voice on the other line was as unrecognizable as the number. It was deep with a certain Texan accent.

"Uh, yeah?" Zac scratched his head and sat up on his bed.

"Can you come down to Hollywood Blvd? Vanessa Hudgens has been in an accident."

Zac's heart almost stopped as he heard the words "Vanessa" and "accident" used in the same sentence.

"Wait, what?" He shook his head repeatedly, his throat suddenly feeling thick. He had _just_ been with her. How could she have gotten in an accident?

"Sir, please come down **now**."

The tone of the man's voice snapped Zac out of his confused daze. He hung up the phone immediately and raced down to his car in record time. He gripped the steering wheel, going at least 20 miles over the speed limit. He didn't care. He needed to get to Vanessa.

A few minutes of silent discussion with himself later, Zac had come to the conclusion that Vanessa had probably bumped into someone's bumper. Not to degrade her driving skills, but she wasn't the best or safest driver he knew.

Zac was almost certain with his bumper theory as he turned onto Hollywood Blvd. It probably wasn't such a bad accident. He was sure of it.

Until he turned the corner and all he saw were flashing lights and red.

"Shit."_  
_  
*******

Zac didn't cry a lot in public. Actually, he didn't cry a lot, period. Only a handful of people had _actually _seen him cry, full on. His parents, brother, a few aunts and uncles here and there, and Vanessa. Like any other man, he had come to the conclusion that crying in public diminished his manliness. He was alright with crying in private though, as long as he was around the right people.

But now, the whole hospital lobby witnessed his heartbreaking sobs as paramedics rushed Vanessa into intensive care. He tried to follow them in, but the doctors were impossible to keep up to with his quivering limbs. He fell to the ground as the doors shut in his face.

"No! Vanessa!" he cried, slamming his fist against the ground. The amount of tears in his eyes made it impossible to see anything clearly, but he swore he saw his knuckle bleeding as he pounded the cold floor.

"Sir? Sir!"

Zac peered up at the sound of someone's voice, obviously directed towards him. He bit his lip, burying his face in his arm to shield his desperate cries. He felt a hand tug his arm, but he didn't budge.

"Sir, can you please get up and take a seat in the waiting room please?" The nurse asked, gripping his arm tighter. She knew who she was dealing with. Her seven year old daughter had made her watch High School Musical enough to know how famous this boy was.

Zac lifted his head, the salty tears still coming down in buckets. The nurse smiled sympathetically at him as he slowly got up. She rubbed his back as he hunched his shoulders, his sobs never breaking. The people in the waiting room all took a peek into the star's personal life, feeling sympathy and sadness for him.

"Would you like to tell me what's going on, honey?" the nurse spoke gently in hopes of calming the poor boy down. Zac peered at her through his bloodshot eyes, and noticed her thick mess of black curls, instantly reminding him of Vanessa.

"My…my...girlfriend," Zac started, trying to contain his sobs as much as possible. "But she was…so much more than a girlfriend…she got in a car accident…and she's…" He couldn't finish the last sentence. His limbs gave out on him once again, and as he fell to the floor, the sobs came ripping from his chest.

"I can't live without her!" he screamed, catching the attention of the people that weren't already watching on, alarmed. "I…I can't do it!"

"Sir, I know this is hard for you..." the nurse trailed off, wondering what to say to the hysterical man in front of her. "Maybe you should go to the church and pray for your girlfriend."

The nurse's words seemed distant to Zac as he broke down on the floor. He could only replay the last moments he had with Vanessa in his head. They weren't loving, memorable ones like the significant moments in their relationship he cherished. They weren't fun, happy, or even comfortably silent. They were tension-filled and frustrated. He thought back to his hands reaching out and just missing her as she stormed out of his house. If only he had tried harder to get her back. If only he pulled her into his arms and soothed her and kissed her and told her how much he loved her. If only he ran out to her car before she pulled out of his house, stopped her, and apologized. If only he hadn't been so compulsive about his pearly white couches. If only…

"It's my entire fault!" he screeched, the "if only's" becoming too much for him to handle. "It's all my fault and…and now she's gone…" he choked out, a new round of desperate cries escaping from his throat.

"Mr. Efron?"

Zac slowly raised his head at the sound of his name. He didn't want to talk to anyone besides Vanessa.

"Take my hand, son." The doctor held out his hand that was blurry to Zac through all his tears. He stayed put, unable to move, unable to feel anything but pain.

"Come on, I'll help you walk." The doctor tried again, nudging Zac slightly. Zac flinched away at his touch and started crying _harder _as he noticed the wedding band on the doctor's finger. He peered at the kuuipo ring on the opposite finger of the marriage finger. Him and Vanessa would never get married. They would never have children. They would never grow old together. Zac's heart slowly disintegrated to tinier and tinier pieces as he thought of how his future was getting destroyed with every tick of the clock. Without Vanessa, nothing mattered to him. Everything else was irrelevant.

"Mr. Efron, please." The doctor was becoming impatient, Zac could tell. Even though he didn't want to, he accepted the helping hand and got to his feet, his legs and arms trembling.

"Let's go take a walk. I'm Dr. Clark." Dr. Clark said. Zac shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I... I can't walk." His hoarse voice was barely a whisper. Dr. Clark patted his back soft-heartedly.

"Okay, then let's sit." He gestured towards a secluded corner away from the curious eyes of the waiting room. Zac inhaled shakily and tried to wipe the constant tears streaming down his soaked face. His legs practically gave out on him again, but he reached the chair before he broke down on the floor for the third time.

"I can't believe this," he moaned, his thoughts now at Vanessa's limp, disturbed body at the scene of the crash. He would never forget the looks of intense agony etched into her features. Her body was lifeless, the color and spirit that he loved most about her, non-existent. It was the worst moment of his life, having to watch her get carried onto the ambulance and trying to get shocked back to life. It was something that would haunt him forever.

"Zac, I have some news to deliver." Dr. Clark inhaled and exhaled once slowly, bracing himself. It was the worst part of his job, giving patient's loved ones bad news. His heart broke as he felt Zac's blood shot eyes on him.

"Vanessa, she's your significant other, I understand?"

Zac nodded slowly.

"Well, we're prepping for surgery right now, but I've got to tell you Zac," Dr. Clark bit his bottom lip. "She's probably not going to make it."

Zac moved his gaze from Dr. Clark to the white wall in front of him. He didn't even attempt to process the words just spoken to him. He knew that as long as he lived, he would never be able to comprehend that the love of his life, his soul mate, his other half, was taken away from him at the age of 20.

Dr. Clark became uneasy as he noticed Zac's demeanour change from devastatingly heartbroken to numb. He knew from experience that when people went silent, it was never a good thing. "Mr. Efron, I also have something else to tell you." He watched the young man for a moment, wondering what would happen. But nothing did. He just kept silent and still. "You have a chance to say…goodbye to her."

Zac's brow furrowed as he immediately snapped out of his numb-like state. "What do you mean?" His voice was strong and demanding.

Dr. Clark fidgeted. "I mean that she's hanging on by a thread. The only reason she's living right now is because of all the respirators and such we've got hooked up to her. Her lung damage doesn't allow her to breathe on her own. But, before she goes into surgery, you can say goodbye."

Zac chewed his bottom lip, his eyes watering. "And there's a one hundred percent guarantee she won't survive this operation?"

Dr. Clark exhaled with a whoosh. "Unless there's a miracle. We're going to have to take her off all her respirators for the surgery, and since she can't breathe on her own…" he watched Zac's tears start dripping down his face, and he knew finishing that sentence was unnecessary. All he could do from then on was offer his condolences. "I'm sorry, Mr. Efron. Of course we'll do everything we can to save her, but…"

Zac held up a hand and nodded. "I know you will." He drew in long breath through his nose. "Can I see her now?"

"Yes, for sure." Dr. Clark helped Zac off the chair and led him to Vanessa's room. Zac gave him a helpless look before opening the door and stepping. Dr. Clark couldn't help the few tears that rolled down his own face as he heard Zac's sobs coming from the room. A wonderful love story was about to come to a tragic end, and there was nothing anyone could do.

**The second part will come out soon. It won't be as long as this chapter; it will kind of just finish the story.  
Thanks for reading!**


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